Bruno Schulz

This summer in Ukraine was the 5th annual Bruno Schulz festival.  I'm terribly embarrassed to admit that I had never heard of this writer before. A friend of mine gave me a incredulous look when I asked her if she knew who he was. Of course. He was Jewish, wrote in Polish, and lived in a Polish town that is now part of Ukraine, Drohobych.  He is claimed by all three groups: things were a bit complicated back then. He was shot by a German SS officer in 1942.

Since this summer, I've read bits and pieces of his short stories. A passage always jumps out at me and I think to myself that this is an author I'd really love.  There is a website with many of his short stories translated into English. One day ... But glancing through this evening I discovered a new word:

Peripeteia: a sudden or unexpected reversal of circumstances or situation especially in a literary work

I need to find some way to work this into my dissertation that I may or may not ever get around to writing.